1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of electrical equipment enclosures and, more particularly, to an electrical interconnection arrangement to appropriately interconnect electrical conductors between assemblies and modules of pad-mounted gear such as switch operators and communication and control units, while also serving to shield the low-voltage control wiring from the medium voltage within the pad-mounted gear.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various types of pad-mounted gear are available that include appropriate combinations of switches and fuses that are housed within metal enclosures. These configurations are available as both manually operated and power-operated units. It is desirable to provide power-operated switch operators that are affixed externally to the enclosure of the pad-mounted gear either during manufacture of the pad-mounted gear or as a field retrofit. For example, reference may be made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,025,171 , 5,034,584, and 4,804,809. Additionally, power operation of the switches may be accomplished in an automated distribution system in response to signals from a remote location via a communication and control unit utilizing a remote terminal unit.
While these arrangements may be generally suitable for their intended uses, the installation of the necessary interconnection wiring requires a great deal of labor and manipulation as to routing of the wiring, especially for field retrofit and for the more complex configurations of multiple switch operators. Further, the presence of this low-voltage supply and control wiring in the medium-voltage compartments of the pad-mounted gear is also not a desirable situation for a variety of reasons.